Pandora Quest 5AM in the PM!7yrs1r7nKA09/18/15(Fri)23:12:27No.42591785

You are the head researcher at a government facility. Your sole responsibility is to teach the world's first autonomous AI, nicknamed Pandora, about life, the world and her existence.Previously you had a talk with your research team about the direction you're taking as far as teaching goes and decided that you would bring one (or more) of them along with you for learning sessions. Later, you decided it was time to brush up on your dance moves to some success, only to discover the enigmatic R&D team was watching you the whole time. You wanted to die. Now you stand before Pandora's room, your subordinate Grace Zheng in tow, with more gifts to bestow upon Pandora; a USB stick containing software to allow Pandora the ability to dream, as well as new hands with the ability to "feel" things.Welcome back to Pandora Quest.

>>42591785You stand before the door, a slightly nervous Grace Zheng beside you, holding some of the most high-tech equipment the world has ever seen, to be used to upgrade THE most high-tech hardware the world has ever seen. You still are unsure what you should focus on as far as the lesson plan for today.>Focus on emotional and moral lessons (gains boost from Grace)>Focus on the standard lesson plan (Gains minor drawback from Grace)>Other (write in)

You decide that Pandora could use a bit of help on the emotional end of the spectrum of intelligence. After all, you're not exactly a therapist yourself. After the long, dull process of entering Pandora's chambers, followed by the standard "wake up" procedures, you are once again in the presence of Pandora, who seems rather intrigued at the new presence behind you."Hello." She carefully greets Grace, a vague sense of unease surrounding her. She's never really interacted with anyone but you before, so this should be interesting. Grace is rather stunned. "Ni hao-...er..." She starts, catching herself in mid-bow. "Hello, Pandora. My name is Dr. Grace Zheng." "Grace is going to be helping us study today," you explain. "If that's alright with you." Pandora nods, eyeing the parcels in your hands. "Is that more clothes?" she says, a hopeful look spreading across her face.>Show her the new software and hardware upgrades and install them>Show her the upgrades but do not install them yet>Hold off until after the lesson>Other (write in)

You place the box on the table in front of her, opening it carefully and removing the new hands, turning them end-over-end carefully. Outwardly they look pretty much identical to her current hands, save for small black pads on the underside of each finger that are slightly soft to the touch. She looks to the haptic hands and back to her own, a little confused. "Hands?" she flexes her fingers carefully. "Is there something the matter with my current hands, doctor?" You shake your head, smiling. "No no, of course not." You hold up the hands to show her the small sensors. "These are an upgrade, an improvement to give you a whole new sense called touch. You see, humans like myself and Grace can feel the texture of things around them. The softness of fabric, the roughness of wood, the coldness of ice. All of this stimuli is is fed into our brain through our skin. With these new hands, you will have that same sensation, more or less."She seems rather excited, the prospect of an entirely new sense rather titillating to her, you'd imagine. "Do I get them now?" She bounces in her seat slightly, much to Grace's amusement. "I want to touch!" You shake your head. "Not yet, Pandora. We have a lesson to get to first and I want to make sure you're ready for them. This is a pretty big deal, you know." She looks a little glum, eyes trailing down to her own hands. "Oh. Okay..."Roll 1d100 to help Pandora get in touch with her feelings. Best of 3.

Despite the obvious distraction of her new gifts, the lesson goes rather well. You discuss the concept of world-views; how she perceives everything around her, including others, the room and all the things she comes into contact with. As it turns out, her view of everything is not unlike that of a young child, with several minor exceptions. One slightly discomforting thing is that she seems to have a rather limited and blank view of everything; like a blank canvas with no paint to bring it to life. She seems to want to express feelings she doesn't quite understand in a way she can't quite grasp."Do I get to touch now?" She says with a hopeful look on her face, eyes darting between you and the box on the table, her bouncing beginning to resume.>Yes, time to give you your new hands>No, not quite yet, we have more lessons to cover>Discuss her rather bland worldview and see if it can be improved>Other (write in)

You stand up, grabbing the box. "Yes," you chuckle. "Now it's time for your new hands." In a movement that nearly knocks her chair over, Pandora shoots up to a standing position, hardly able to contain her enthusiasm, bouncing from one slight foot to the other like a little girl about to take her first trip into a toy store. You unlock the repair room and have her hop up on the bench, gathering all the tools you'll need to perform the transplant. "Doctor, will you need any assistance on this?" Grace asks, fiddling with a screwdriver quietly.>Perform the upgrade yourself, she would only get in the way>Perform the upgrade with Grace assisting, more hands are helpful>Other (Write in)

You figure, what the hell, can't hurt to have an assistant with you. Why not? You get to work on the transfer, delicate work to be sure, while at the same time discuss Pandora's rather melancholy outlook with her. Maybe see if you can't improve it a little, or at least figure out why it's so...blank.Roll 2d100, first for the procedure, second for the psychology...ing.

You're rather impressed with how smoothly the upgrade goes, all things considered. Grace is a great help with both the hardware transfer and getting to the bottom of Pandora's issues. After a short while, the hands are fully functional and ready to test, a giddy smile plastered across the android's face.However, more importantly, you discover something important about her; she needs a creative outlet. Something to do that isn't class, that isn't testing, that isn't learning from a book. She needs something she can do on her own, something that can test the limits of her individual skills and creativity. You discover she has a great need for something new and exciting to really show her what the world is about and how she can affect it. There are plenty of things that can help with that, thankfully, and you're glad you caught this before it stagnated her budding uniqueness.

You begin a dry run of Pandora's newfound sense of touch, letting her feel pretty much anything she wants to that isn't dangerous or fragile. She starts with her dress, her fingers gently running along the fabric, pinching it, rubbing it, all with an amazed look on her face, she is completely lost to it. You attempt to get her input on what it's like, but the only response you ever get is half-formed words and sounds as she continues to find new, fascinating things to feel.She moves from her dress to her chassis, her hair, the table, paper, her chair, your coat, hair, back to her dress again and back to you, her hands running over your face. You have to keep her from getting a little too excited and jabbing you in the eyes, but overall the experience is, dare you say, kind of cute. She loves the slight stubble on your chin, commenting on it's "stick-outy-ness" you explain as "rough". After a while she ends up simply wandering the room, touching everything within her reach, occasionally making observations on the sensation.

>>42593872On the contrary, critical fails are sometimes the most fun things to write.

"Doctor..." Grace gets your attention after a while. "About her need for outside stimuli... I was thinking that perhaps we could introduce something for her to do on her own time. Maybe bring in some books, games, movies or TV shows for her to experience. I've even been playing with the idea of, err, giving her some more freedom as far as her sleep cycle. A software update to allow her to wake up on her own once she's finished charging...with your permission, of course!" You think this over carefully, watching Pandora attempting to reach one of the security cameras fruitlessly.>Agree to outside stimuli, send a request to acquisitions for some things to do>Disagree, she needs to study for now

Also

>Agree to software upgrade, more freedom can be important to her development>Disagree to software upgrade, you don't think she's ready for that quite yet

Grace assures you that she can have the software update within a day if she has tomorrow off to work on it, otherwise two if you'd like her to come assist tomorrow. "However, the dream software..." She mentions, holding up the USB stick. "I'll be sad to miss her first dream if I do... Oh, shall we install it now, sir?" She seems a little more excited about it than you are.>Yes, install the Dreamware now>No, hold off until tomorrow>Other (write in)

You, after much effort, manage to get Pandora's attention, her fingers practically rubbing the padding on the walls off. You show her the USB drive, explaining that this new upgrade will let her see new, interesting and potentially extremely unique things while she's asleep in her charging cradle. The concept seems a little hard for her to grasp, but in the end she trusts you to give her "great new gifts".A quick plug, >run dreamware.bat and soft reset later and Pandora is updated. No bugs, no issues, no conflicts. R&D knows their stuff. Pandora checks herself over, not sure what to be looking for. "I don't feel..." she smiles at that word, quietly touching the hem of her dress. "I don't feel any different." You explain how it works, both the software and the concept of dreaming. You're not sure she gets it entirely, but she'll understand once she starts dreaming. You retrieve a notebook and a pen, writing "Dream Journal" on the front for her. Another quick explanation later and she's ready to go, you hope. Her battery's getting a little low, might be time for bed. She's had a busy day.>Bedtime for good little androids>Let her stay up a while longer>Other (write in)

You lead her to her charging cradle, dream journal in hand. As you plug her in and ready the sleep protocols, you whisper into her ear. "Imagine what a dog would feel like when you finally get to pet one." This lights up her face something fierce, her mouth and eyes wide open, fingers twitching as she thinks about it. You set her to sleep mode and she slowly fades, hands still clutching her journal you assume will be filled with thoughts of canines come the morning. You passingly wonder if this is what having kids is like."Doctor, this was..." Grace begins, stammering for a moment. "Incredible doesn't even describe it! She has so much...humanity to her! To think she is a program, artificial. She could easily be a human child! I can't even begin to thank you for this opportunity." She shakes your hand vigorously, suppressing what you assume is some kind of Chinese squeal of glee.You have some time before lights out, what would you like to do?>Get some food in the mess hall>Discuss your future lesson plans with Grace>Discuss your future lesson plans with Kevin>Meet up with/contact _______ (write in)>Head to bed early>Other (write in)

You pack up and decide now's a good time to get something to eat. As much as you hate the food here, a scientist's gotta eat. You invite Grace along, wishing to discuss matters with her and Kevin about the current curriculum. A quick message and walk later, you arrive in a nearly empty mess hall. It's still a few hours 'til dinner, so most people are still on duty. Good, less noise and crowding. You grab some...food(?), a table and moments later Kevin arrives, numerous folders and a laptop in tow.After nearly an hour of Kevin droning on and on about what should be considered mandatory for the lessons, you get the feeling he's not exactly the "great at parties" type of guy. Still, he's thorough and prepared for just about anything. You get a vague compromise of what should be going on as far as rotation goes, with the weekends being their off-days. (Currently it's Monday.) Honestly, you expected more of an argument, but they're mercifully professional. With that out of the way and about all your stomach can handle of creamed something, you have some more free time to yourself before bed. What now?>Contact/meet up with _________ (write in)>Head to the gym for some exercise>Turn in early>Other (write in)

Something about the other day has lit a fire under your scientific ass and you come up with an idea to keep the R&D team from spying on you; there are no cameras in the bathrooms or showers. However, you'll need to be smart about this. You wait in your room, doing paperwork until the usual time when everyone heads in for dinner, then make way for the nearest and quietest bathroom. You take headphones and a digital music player you brought with you to the Facility, carefully checking each stall to ensure you're alone. This is for Pandora, you tell yourself. And science.Roll 1d100 to practice your fly moves where nobody can judge you. Best of 3.

>>42595491>>42595524>>42595563Who knew dancing in the bathroom would suck? at least it makes sense. something about trying to get footloose on a pee soaked tile floor in a narrow stall is bound to be rough.

You practice a few of the moves you learned, vaguely stumbling through what you remember, but generally not getting the feel for it like you did before. Maybe it's the location, maybe it's the music, maybe it's residual shame from what happened before. Whatever it is, you're just not feeling it, but you're gonna keep trying, dammit. Nothing will stop you from-The sound of a toilet flushing cuts your thought short and you freeze. Your earbuds and concentration must've...shit. You slowly turn as the sound of running water snaps you out of it. You meet eye to...black lens with Snowglobe, who silently finishes drying his hands, stares at you for a second, then turns and leaves without saying a word.The bathroom's acoustics give you a nice earful of what your muffled, half-scream, half-whine sounds like through hands placed firmly on your face. That "dying in your sleep" idea seems more enticing every day...

Gonna call it for tonight, guys. But thanks again for playing! I hope you guys had as much fun playing as I did running it! I'll stick around for a bit to answer questions as usual. Please vote for the quest in the archives if you liked it and follow me on Twitter to keep up with future updates! Next thread should be tomorrow!